Solar installation

Why people add solar

The plain reasons are a lower electric bill and less dependence on the utility for the power the roof can make. We will not turn that into a savings promise. Rates, fees, and export credits move, and a year-old flyer is not a quote.

Pair the array with a new roof when the roof needs one, so the mounts go on once. That avoids a later job to remove the panels, reroof, and reinstall them. If the roof is young and sound, we will say so. Solar is not a reason to sell a replacement you do not need.

Ask us about current federal and Utah incentives. Programs and percentages change, so this page does not print a tax-credit number. Your tax advisor and the current program rules are the source for what you can claim.

Reroof before the array

If the shingles are losing granules, the boots are cracked, or the roof is already a patchwork, replace it first. The new roof can be detailed for mounts: underlayment at attachment rows, a flashing plan, and a layout that does not trap debris against a valley. Doing this backward — panels first, tear-off second — is the expensive sequence.

A roof that is genuinely young can take an array. We will say that too. Not every solar customer needs a new roof, and we will not invent one.

Wasatch snow and Dixie sun

On the Wasatch Front and in Cache Valley, snow slides off glass and piles at the eave, on gutters, and on walkways. Layout and snow management are part of the roof design. Lower rows that dump onto a porch need a place to land. In Washington County the issue is heat and UV, attachment flashings that see a lot of sun, and dust. Monsoon wind wants racks that were actually engineered for the site, not a catalog default.

Interconnection rules and buyback rates change. Rocky Mountain Power and municipal utilities do not share one policy, and we will not quote you a savings number from a year-old flyer. We handle the roof and the array installation. You confirm the current utility rules and any incentive with the utility, not with a sentence on this page.

• Roof condition decided before equipment is ordered
• Mounts flashed for the roof type: shingle, standing seam, or tile
• Layout that respects valleys, ridges, and the way snow leaves the slope
• A plan for who removes the array if the roof needs work later
• Ask about current federal and Utah incentives. No tax-credit percentage is printed here

Tile, metal, and flat roofs

Tile needs a mount that does not crack the field and a flashing that belongs under the tile, at the underlayment. Standing seam can often take clamps that do not penetrate the panel — a better detail when the seam profile allows it. Low-slope TPO and PVC need attachments the membrane manufacturer will stand behind, because a convenient screw through a warranty membrane is how commercial roofs start leaking.

What we need from you

The electric bill is useful. The roof pitch, shading from a neighbor’s trees or a canyon wall, and whether an HOA has a solar rule are more useful on day one. Many Utah HOAs can no longer ban solar outright, but they still comment on placement. Know which HOA you are in before we draw the array over the front slope.